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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23831398">Falling Faster 'Till We Fly</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/cyberpunkjinx/pseuds/cyberpunkjinx'>cyberpunkjinx</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Hermitcraft RPF</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Gen, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Slight bit of angst, iskall has a robot arm and we need to talk about it more, no beta we die like men, robo iskall, slight graphic injury</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-04-25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-04-25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-02 17:27:51</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,028</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23831398</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/cyberpunkjinx/pseuds/cyberpunkjinx</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Check your elytra durability before doing extreme stunts, kids.</p>
<p>Iskall85 fell from a high place and the resulting injuries might reveal more than he'd hoped.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Oliver Brotherhood &amp; Viktor | Iskall85</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>129</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Falling Faster 'Till We Fly</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>This is my first Hermitcraft fic, please be nice I wrote this at 2am</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>As his feet edged closer to the platform’s end, Iskall shot an uneasy smile over to his fellow hermits, who simply grinned mischievously and waved the diamond blocks he had been promised for doing this... stunt? Act of pure stupidity? He cautiously peered over the platform, only to be met with a solid white block in his field of vision. Ah, that's right, they were past the clouds, weren't they? </p>
<p>"Come on dude! Or are you too <em>parrot</em> to do it?" Mumbo said with a knowing grin, earning a steel glare from Iskall, who grumbled something barely audible before turning back to face the open sky. Screwing his eye shut tight, he let his body weight topple him over the edge, instantly feeling his stomach drop and his chest tighten. Sure, the hermits were used to flying around below the build limit, but this was a whole other level of danger.</p>
<p>As the wind cruelly lashed at his cheeks, causing his eyes to water and his ears to ring, he saw the ground come into view. It rapidly approached him, and he estimated that this would be the best time to open his elytra. So he did.</p>
<p>So he did.</p>
<p>So he- <em>wait.</em> Panic began to bubble in Iskall's chest, turning his head just enough to see a large tear spreading its way up the entirety of one of his wings, fluttering uselessly in the wind. The bubbling turned to a roaring explosion as his breaths drew ragged and short. This was going to be a painful one.</p>
<p>Death was never the biggest of deals in this world, although it did depend greatly on how you died. Falling into the void was generally considered the worst, leaving you with hollow voids in your memory and winding black lighting scars traveling around your torso and neck. Burning in lava was next, and then came fall damage. The aches and pains never truly fade, regardless of how many healing potions or golden apples you consume. </p>
<p>His body hit the grassy floor like a sack of diorite. The last thing he was vaguely aware of before the darkness overcame him completely was the sickening crunch of shattering bones.</p>
<p>
  <strong>Iskall85 fell from a high place.</strong>
</p>
<p>As his consciousness floated in the limbo between lives, waiting for his body to reconstruct itself, Iskall remembered something. He remembered something very important and very, very bad. He had to be quick, he had to force himself to come back before they came for him first. <em>He had to wake up.</em></p>
<p>A flash of light and Iskall opened his eyes. Another flash, this one of pain mixed with redstone current, and Iskall jolted. Shit. He could barely move, but he had to see the damage, he had to- </p>
<p>"<em>Fuck!</em>" Iskall barked, the pain of moving quickly overwhelming his senses, setting every nerve ending on fire.  Trying to move his right arm, he signed to find it mere dead weight on his shoulders. Laying there for a few seconds, he slowly used his left arm to prop himself up, letting out a small whimper as he did so. Iskall had always had a high pain tolerance, it came with being a cyborg, but this hurt. A lot. He knew he shouldn't have rushed his respawn, but he needed to make sure he was awake and moving before-</p>
<p>
  <em>Knock Knock.</em>
</p>
<p>Crap, they were already here. </p>
<p>"I-I'm fine!" He cursed the way his voice trembled. Looking down, he grimaced to see the flickering form of his projected arm stutter and die completely, leaving bare cold metal and exposed wiring in its place. </p>
<p>"Let me in, dude!" The voice clearly belonged to Mumbo, who sounded concerned. "I know how much falling sucks! You're going to need some help. If your eye is broken, I can get Do-"</p>
<p>"NO! No, no need to bother Doc!" Iskall laughed nervously, cutting it off with a wince as he lugged his exhausted body over to his workbench. "I've fixed it myself plenty of times." He heard a begrudging sigh from behind the door and footsteps slowly getting quieter. Picking up a flathead screwdriver, he began to pry open the already loosened plate on his forearm, cursing at how his hand shook with adrenaline. </p>
<p>Suddenly, a violent shock threw him backward onto the floor, his vision spotty with the impact. He was vaguely aware of a scream, only to realise it was his own, his working hand clutching his eye module as it sent pulses of redstone current through his body. Distantly, he heard the rapid footsteps once again, but this time accompanied by the sound of his bedroom door opening. It was the last thing he heard before the world was enveloped in darkness again.</p>
<p>--------------------------</p>
<p>Mumbo paced back and forth, checking his communicator for any updates on Doc's availability or location. He had forced his way into the room after hearing Iskall's scream, eyes widening in panic as he saw his friend on the floor, eye closed and barely breathing. His torso must've taken a lot of the force from the impact, Mumbo thought, as he approached the unconscious figure, eyes scanning for any blatant open wounds. Instead, he froze in place, eyes landing on the green wiring weaving its way in and out of silver metal where Iskall's right arm should be. Furrowing his brow, Mumbo frowned as he knelt down next to Iskall, tentatively resting his fingers on the cold and smooth surface. Yep, that was definitely metal and most definitely not the organic arm Mumbo had felt many times before.</p>
<p>Decidedly having no idea what he was doing when it came to tech like Doc's or Iskall's, and being especially out of his element with this new robotic appendage, Mumbo did the only thing he could think of.</p>
<p>Send a slightly panicked message to Doc.</p>
<p>A ping from his communicator knocked Mumbo out of his reflection. He breathed a sigh of relief as he saw Doc was on his way with some tools and at least a few more brain cells than was currently on the scene. Mumbo feared that moving the unconscious man would only cause further damage, so he fetched a pillow and gently put it under Iskall's head in a slightly pathetic attempt to make him more comfortable. It evidently did little, as Iskall's expression was still one of immense pain, his mouth in a grimace and his nose scrunched up tightly.</p>
<p>Doc's arrival surprised Mumbo slightly, standing up from where he was knelt down. Honestly, it was refreshing to talk to someone at face level, as few hermits matched Mumbo in height. But that was beside the point. Opening his mouth to begin his explanation about what he had found, Doc held up a finger to signal silence.</p>
<p>"I already know about the arm, so forget about that for now." Doc said simply, kneeling down next to Iskall and cracking open his toolbox. "Why is he in the middle of the floor?" The creeper asked as he began to tinker with the arm.</p>
<p>"Well, when I first got here, he was awake but said he was fine. I was going to get Grian to convince him to let us in, but then I heard a scream and... yeah..." He trailed off, gesturing to Iskall. "I didn't want to move him 'cause he fell from a high place, and I didn't want to break any of the surviving bones... if there are any." He mumbled awkwardly, kicking the ground with his feet as the guilt gnawed at his heart. It had been his idea, the dare, and they didn't properly check the elytra's durability before he jumped. The force of the wind was probably enough to rip it.</p>
<p>After about ten minutes of either awkward silence or equally awkward small talk, Doc clicked the panel back into its slot, the arm humming to life with the familiar sound of redstone current. With a few flickers of what seemed to be a cloaking mechanism, the metal arm was surrounded with the very real projection of a flesh and blood arm. It's skin colour even matched the sickly pale grey Iskall now had turned.</p>
<p>"Help me get him onto the bed. Carefully." Doc said curtly, gently wrapping his arms underneath Iskall's as Mumbo lifted his legs. Gently settling him down on the bed, Doc raised his finger again, as if he could read Mumbo's mind. "Not a word about what you have seen to anyone else, understood? His wishes were very clear, no one must know." His tone was stern but Mumbo could sense the care for his friend hidden behind it.</p>
<p>"Loud and clear, Doc. Mind explaining it to me, though? I'm afraid I still don't understand... why he has a robotic arm?"  Mumbo sat on the floor by the bed, his back resting against the sturdy bark of the inner tree. It was strangely comfortable, no wonder Iskall had made this place his home.</p>
<p>"...Very well." Doc sighed, taking a seat on the floor opposite Mumbo, also leaning against the tree wall. "This isn't the first time he has fallen, recently. About a month or two ago he had quite the nasty fall when working on one of these branches," He looked upwards, gaze following the wall of the tree inwards towards the canopy roof up above. "It did not kill him, so no one knew, but I happened to be passing through the area and found him. Because there was no respawn, his shattered arm had started to become necrotic. I estimate he was there for about a day or two."</p>
<p>That sent a deep pang of guilt through Mumbo's chest. A day or two? And Mumbo hadn't noticed? What kind of friend was he? He looked toward Doc, unable to identify a single emotion that crossed the creeper's face. However, Doc clearly recognised the shame and guilt in Mumbo's, and his gaze softened ever so slightly.</p>
<p>"I wouldn't stress about it. We can disappear for days at a time when working on projects-" His weak consolation was interrupted by a deep groan coming from the bed.</p>
<p>"Ugh, vad hände?" Said a gruff and hoarse voice, and almost immediately Doc and Mumbo were at the bed.</p>
<p>"You spoon! I told you you needed help, didn't I?" Mumbo said playfully, relieved his friend seemed to be alright. "I, er, had to call Doc to fix... yeah..." His gaze travelled down to Iskall's arm and then away completely, leaving Iskall to read between the lines.</p>
<p>Iskall's eyes widened in realisation, groaning as he let his head fall back onto the pillow. "Of course..." He muttered, lifting his right arm and flexing the fingers a few times. He looked over to Doc, who reached into his pocket and retrieved a small vial of pink liquid, wordlessly handing it over to the diamond eyed man. "Cheers, I'll drink to that, bro." He sighed, tipping his head back and swallowing the contents of the vial. He immediately felt better, like a ten-tonne weight was lifted from his shoulders, and he sat up properly in the bed, meeting Mumbo's concerned gaze.</p>
<p>"Why didn't you tell me, man?" He didn't sound angry or hurt, just... confused. Iskall couldn't blame him. Why didn't he tell his best friend about such a life-changing injury? Why did he feel the need to hide it? He felt bad saying it was out of embarrassment when Doc was right there, cybernetics proudly on display.</p>
<p>"Because... It was pathetic, man. Falling out of a tree? I was conscious, I just couldn't move, I hardly even cried for help because I knew there would be no one around. I was planning to die there, man." He confessed quietly. He opened his mouth to continue, but instead was enveloped in a soft hug. The way Mumbo's arms rested against his ribs was slightly painful, but the relief from the hug, to know that it wasn't pathetic that he had just accepted his fate there on the jungle floor, far outweighed that.</p>
<p>And for that moment, Iskall was glad for his robot arm, so he could use it to hug his best friend.</p>
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